Fortunately, it was with a group from the ship (You can all relax now). It is something people from the ship do every Friday with a local prison ministry. We all met early to get briefed on the day and pray. The girls were all told to wear long skirts. We gathered in cars and drove out to one of the many nondescript walled compounds that dot the city, espically near the docks. We piled out of the cars and gathered. After some chatting and milling around, which are essential pre-activities in Africa, we were herded through a massive iron door into a small room. There was a fence, and when our name was called, we could go around the fence into the other part of the room. After that, we went through a smaller iron door and were officially in prison. The men's area was packed with men of all shapes and sizes. Some wore colored jumpsuits which meant they were prisoners who worked for the prison. They all watched us as we paraded to the sections of the prison we decided to visit.
There are three sections: Men, youth (teenage boys), and women. I chose to visit the women with Katie, Michelle, Chelsea, Bonny Jean, Kendall, and several other women. The women's facility was less crowded, but it was extremely hot because the high walls prevent airflow. There were women sprawled out in various stages of sleep and lazyness. There were cooking fires and clothes hung up to dry. And then there were the children.
Let me take a moment to explain prison in Benin. You are guilty until proven innocent. Many people haven't even had a trial. And many people have been falsely accused and put in prison without a trial. Most inmates don't know when they will get out. I'm not sure exactly how the children get in prison. My guess is that either the women are pregnant when they go into prison, or they have to take their children with them because there is no one else to care for them. I noticed that all the kids that I saw were girls.
Most of the children got a huge kick out of us. One girl didn't need any time to get over shyness. She sat on all of our laps at least once and loved getting hugs and dancing around us. I thought she was pretty great, even when she started bending the pages of my Bible pretty badly. After Bonny Jean hid it under her skirt, things got a lot better. This little girl lifted up her dress at one point and exposed her herniated belly button. I was horrified as I'd never seen one before, but fortunately my nurse/awesome bunkie Katie had seen it and told me what it was. Apparently it's very common for kids to have that here. According to my other roommate Lisa, they think it's because the kids get carried on the mothers' backs so they don't develop stomach muscles as well. I had another little friend who was probably three. She would hide from me so I'd hide from her and then we'd jump out. She never warmed up enough to get hugs and everything, but she seemed to like us well enough.
Katie got one little girl to love her. The girl was stoic and basically stared at us. She didn't change expression, even during singing or when I made faces at her. Then Katie came along and sat with her. Next thing I notice is that the girl is in Katie's lap laughing as Katie tickles her. When it was time to go, she held Katie's hand and almost cried as we left. It was very hard to watch.
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